Pop-Up Pool Party Thwarted By Howell Police: Here's How
HOWELL, NJ — Howell Township officials thwarted a pop-up pool party that had been promoted for a home in Howell Township on Friday, the police chief confirmed Monday.
Howell Township police posted a notice on the department’s Facebook page on Saturday noting that the party, which had been promoted on social media, had been stopped.
“Our agency is aware of a promoter trying to host a ‘pop up’ style pool party in our jurisdiction at a local residence,” the police department post said. “We have obtained a cease and desist order for the residence, which was served on the homeowner, and the party promoter is aware.”
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“These parties are not permitted. Any attempt to continue with this or any other ‘pop up’ type party will be met with a law enforcement response,” police said.
Howell Township Police Chief John Storrow said it took several days and multiple court hearings to halt it.
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Storrow, in a phone interview, said Howell police were notified by the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department of social media postings regarding a party planned for a private home in the township.
Once authorities confirmed the address, Storrow said, they went to speak to the homeowners and learned the person who agreed to host the party was their adult son, who was in his 40s. The homeowners told police the party was being held without their permission.
Tickets to the party, which was to include the use of the pool, vendors and a DJ, were $30 to $50, Storrow said. As such, it made it a commercial enterprise, which was not permitted in the residential area, he said.
In conversations with Township Manager Joseph Clark and Township Attorney Caitlin Harney, it was determined that going to court to get an order barring the party on the basis of it being a commercial enterprise, Storrow said.
While the court order was issued two days before the party was set to be held, Storrow said authorities faced resistance when they spoke to the son, who refused to comply in spite of the fact that his parents were facing fines of up to $4,000.
“He said ‘It sounds like their problem,’ ” Storrow said, and told authorities the party was moving forward because he was getting paid by the promoter to host it.
After another court hearing where the man’s parents told the judge they opposed the party, the injunction was amended to include the son, who was then told any money he made would be consumed by whatever fines were issued, Storrow said.
Authorities also tracked down one of the co-promoters of the party and warned him they would pursue criminal charges for any offenses that happened.
In the meantime, Storrow said he reached out to other local police departments to let them know about the potential for the party, in case mutual aid was needed, and brought additional officers in on overtime.
Some of those officers were assigned to go to the Walmart parking lot, where partygoers had been told to go to park and be shuttled to the party, Storrow said.
In the end, the party in Howell was squelched, Storrow said.
One of the promoters apparently had ties to a neighboring town and authorities learned there was an attempt to move the party to a home there, Storrow said, with partygoers picking up the shuttle in a store parking lot. The police department in that town was notified, and when the vans arrived to ferry people to the party, patrol officers started following the vans.
“They made it obvious they were following them,” Storrow said, and he was told the people finally gave up and left the area.
Storrow said he wished authorities had more tools to shut down the parties and deter promoters from even trying to hold them at homes in residential areas.
“They have to do something to make the promoters of these parties accountable,” Storrow said. “We should be able to do something before the party happens.”
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